Disclaimer: JKR, enough said.

Dose of Your Own

By: OurLoveIsForever

Chapter Nine: Bounds

My eyes widened at the suddenness of his action. I had certainly not expected him to wrap his arms around me so tightly that I would have trouble simply getting air into my lungs. My arms were pinned to my sides. Not that they would have moved anyway, I was so shocked. Never in my years had I ever imagined Draco Malfoy to hug anyone, especially not me.

I didn't speak. If I did, I knew that what would spew out would not help the man at all and it would possibly land me in Saint Mungo's with irreparable spell damage. I was always one for self preservation so I remained silent.

Malfoy didn't increase the pressure of his arms nor did he bother to speak. He simply stood there, his arms around my waist. It was as if I were a life-vest, one of those strange devices muggles used to keep their heads above water. He was clinging to me for dear life.

It was all so surreal. There was a burning in my gut that sent waves of nerves flashing through me, almost as if some pixies or the like had been set free in my abdomen. My cheeks were growing hotter and hotter by the second. I couldn't say if it was from the heat of his body or embarrassment. I could feel everything. My senses became sharper than ever before. I tried to ignore the scent entering my nose, but it made me relax against him a bit. It was a mixture of cinnamon and coffee. Never before had I smelled anything like it. It was the most comforting of fragrances. I closed my eyes a bit, overcome with the strange, irregular beating of my heart. It felt so warm within his grasp.

After what felt like forever, he released me. The air around me became cold once more and I shivered, my eyes fluttered open at once. He stepped back once, then twice, his eyes never leaving mine. I held his gaze steadily. I hoped that he couldn't sense my unease.

Finally, he spoke, ending the bizarre silence. "I want revenge." A matter-of-fact statement, cold, indifferent and yet with a understated power.

"On the Ministry?" I questioned.

His head shook as he turned away, looking toward the wrecked room. The beautiful ancient desk that sat in the corner was in shambles. The bookshelves were askew. The room was utterly demolished. Malfoy let out a bitter chuckle. "No, the Carrows."

"What do you—"

"Do you have a hearing problem, Greengrass?"

I narrowed my eyes at his back and neglected to answer his obviously rhetorical question. He knelt down to grasp a black stick poking out from an umbrella-like holster. Examining the silver snake head of the cane, he slumped onto the floor, his back sliding down the wall. The silver scales twinkled in the light almost mockingly. Taking my eyes off of the cane, I wondered why he would want revenge on the Carrows, surely the Ministry had killed his father? That was the only possi—

"The Carrows are at fault for all of this. They're the ones that will pay."

"I'm confused." I said slowly, trying to piece it all together.

"Big shock, that. I'd expect you to be bloody well confused all the time." He continued to examine the cane, his fingertips brushing over the poslished sleek black wood and snake head adorned in silver and emeralds.

"Don't be a prick." I muttered, righting an overturned chair. "I don't know the whole story obviously."

"My father tried to escape." Just as I was beginning to think that the elder Malfoy asked for it, Draco Malfoy continued. "He tried to escape because he needed to warn me."

"Couldn't he just owl you?" I knew it was a stupid question as soon as it left my lips.

Malfoy glared up at me. "You're not an idiot, Greengrass." I raised an eyebrow. So, he didn't think I was daft. "You lack common sense, but you are not completely thick. One cannot simply owl from Azkaban. Such a dumb question! Honestly, Greengrass, how do you survive?"

"Would you focus?" I cried. "Once you finish explaining, then you can give me hell."

He shook his head. "I don't know how Nott puts up with you. 'Astoria, this. Astoria, that.' What a load of rubbish!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Your father wanted to warn you—" I prompted.

Malfoy shrugged. I watched the way the dim light caught his hair. It was slightly mesmerizing. Shaken at the thought, I shook my head to clear it. "He attempted to break out to inform me of their plan. I still don't know what that plan is. I am only aware of this information because of a few well placed bribes." He exhaled slowly, lowing the cane to the floor between his legs. "My father was killed without a wand in his hand." He slipped the snake head off to reveal a wand hidden within. "He was murdered. Lead to his death by those insane siblings. When I get my hands on them, I may not need a wand, I'll rip them to pieces with my bare hands." Looking over at me, he gave a single derisive snort. "By the way, you've been had, Greengrass. Theodore Nott doesn't get drunk. He's obviously scheming. I bloody want to know why."

Shock was apparent on my face by my open mouth and wide eyes. I had suspected, but never more than that. Nothing made sense at the moment. Nott was ever the underhanded man, true, but to pull his tricks on me? I never expected it. What was worse: I should have. The fabric of reality was tearing apart around me.

Malfoy's head shook. "It doesn't matter right now. What matters is my revenge on those miserable—" I couldn't tell if he was falling into insanity or if he had been there all along. Either way, the man sitting before me was consumed with the need for retribution.

I had never thought about losing a parent before. Even though I was not particularly close to either of them, I still would be grieved if they were to pass on.

The Malfoy family, from what I could understand, was a close-nit unit. I didn't know their dynamics or relationships, but I could gather their closeness from the underlying pain in Malfoy's eyes.

The words left my mouth before I could stop them. "Are you alright?" It felt like a daft question, but then again, I was doing a load of idiotic things.

His brows rose slightly, but he deigned to leave the question unanswered. He opted instead for studying me. Silver orbs raked over my body, taking in every little detail. For a long moment, he paused on my folded hands in my lap. I wondered what he found so interesting about them. They were small and pale, nothing special. He moved on to consider my face. I kept my jaw set with determination. If he sensed the smallest fraction of weakness, he would attack it without mercy. I knew that he had been displeased when something as soon as the ghost of a sneer broke over his features. Slowly, his lips pulled over his teeth.

"Do you have a problem with something, Malfoy?" I bit out.

"You're here, uninvited and unwanted and I suggest that you take your leave now."

Rolling my eyes, I was a little taken aback by his sudden attitude. "Now that you're calmed down, I suppose that my 'mission' is complete." I went to stand, brushing my hands over the front of my robes. The dark blue material had small particles of various debris marring the fabric. I could care less. With somewhat slower than normal steps, I approached the door out of the study. I paused in the doorframe, looking back over my shoulder at the young man on the floor, his eyes sharp like a hawk as he watched me leave. "Malfoy, I'm not good at this, but if you need me…" I let the sentence hang before moving out of the room and thus, out of the Malfoy estate. Narcissa Malfoy paid me no mind when I passed her on the staircase, only nodding before moving past me. I felt that nothing more was necessary.

I had already overstepped my bounds enough.

Theodore Nott sat across from me, his coffee mug being held in his left hand. I watched as he crossed his legs and stabilized the coffee on the instep of his brown boots. Never in my life had I ever seen a man put so much sugar into coffee before. It nearly made me sick to remember it.

Nott glanced this way and that, everywhere but me. His eyes rested on the window, then the floor, the kitchen and the ceiling. I pondered just how long he could go without even glancing my direction.

"Just what was your aim?" I muttered, taking a sip from my own black mug.

He smirked momentarily before his face became impassive again.

"Why owl me if we are going to sit in silence the entire time?" Nothing. "If you don't mind, I have more importantthings to do." I began to stand when he finally set his green eyes on me. I grinned triumphantly and settled back into the cushioned chair. We sat in the Nott parlor, the only light coming from the fire. We had drawn the curtains because of the thick sheets of rain pouring outside.

Nott sighed, raking his dirty blond hair back from his face. Stubble could be seen on his chin. As a general rule, he was always a cleanly shaved man. Now, he looked very much as if it were the day after a long night. "'Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.'"

I cocked an eyebrow, slightly irritated with the run-around. "Don't you dare get philosophical with me, Nott. You sent me into the lion's den!"

"Wouldn't it be more of a snakes' pit?"

Indeed. I bit back a smile. "That's not the point."

He shrugged, setting the coffee on the table between us. "Do I really need a motive? Maybe I just didn't want to deal with him?" He reached his hands above his head and stretched lazily. His dark green button-up shirt pulled tight over his thin midsection. He wasn't the most physically fit of all men I had seen, but he seemed to be even thinner now than before. "Did you ever think of that?"

That Nott didn't want to deal with Malfoy?

I hadn't, but then again, I, at first, didn't think he would lie to me so blatantly either. My eyes rolled. "The thought never passed my mind. You may be a self-serving bastard but you're not an unreasonable arse."

Nott raised a single eyebrow. "'Self-serving bastard'…Gee, Greengrass, your words wound me so." He said dramatically, placing a hand to his heart.

"I would have been wounded if Malfoy hadn't calmed down!" I spat.

"Touché, but I must ask, how did you calm him down? I thought for sure you would be leaving that house in a body bag." I leveled a stern glare at him. His palms rose in surrender. "No, I take that back, but I am curious."

"Stem that curious nature because I do not feel it necessary to tell you." I growled, finishing off the remainder of my coffee. I sat it down on the table between us, shaking my head at his nonsense.

"So you didn't spend the time simply taking the piss out of him?"

"You think me so immature?" I snorted.

He chuckled, splaying his fingers over his knees. "I never said that, did I?" His voice was playfully affronted. I did not smile. This was not amusing in the least. "Perhaps you burst in telling him that he should strap up? Or perhaps you simply hexed his shoelaces together?" Nott began to laugh outright, covering his mouth with his hand.

I couldn't help but smile slightly. Quickly I pushed that grin down and settle back into a practiced impartial mask. "You tricked me, Nott."

"Oh, do get over that. I had been dealing with him for hours. I couldn't leave him alone, could I? The entire estate would be in ruins, wouldn't it? Lady Malfoy would have left him to himself to wreck the entire manor. I trusted you enough to know that I could let you go in my stead. Who else could I send? Zabini? Merlin help us if I had!" He threw his hands up, flustered. I could see a tinge of pink coming into his cheeks in his frustration. "Astoria, I know what it is to lose a father." He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I couldn't take it anymore."

I didn't know how to react so I kept my face passively blank. Inside my emotions were haywire. I was a mixture of furiousness and complacence. My eyes fell to my coffee cup. For a long moment, I wondered just how painful it would be to lose a parent. It must have crushed Nott for him to still be grieving even now. He had this entire manor to himself and he lived alone.

"Don't pity me, Astoria." His words struck me hard. I lifted my eyes to his face. A smile broke before his eyes became serious once more. I had not noticed that he had begun to use my first name and, at the moment, I didn't care. He swiftly changed the subject. "I have received word from Zabini concerning the breakout." I wondered for a moment how Zabini had information in the first place. My guess would have been Camilla Zabini, his mother, but I was unsure.

"What about it?"

"He knows who killed Lucius Malfoy."

I nodded urging him to continue. He had made a clean transition. The master of segways had struck again.

Nott shook his head. "Draco will want revenge."

"What matters is my revenge on those miserable—"

The half-crazed words echoed in my head. Spoken only the night before, I could still see the near insane need for revenge, the hate in his eyes. I could hear the malice.

"He does want revenge." I murmured.

"That does not surprise me in the least. He's never been one to sit and take something. Not since-" Nott paused, rethought, and started again. "He will track them down. I am just concerned that he gets the right people." Nott rubbed his temples with his index and forefingers. "If he gets into one of his rages, it won't matter what is in front of him." That much was evident from the destruction of an entire wing of Malfoy Manor. "There is one man that is at fault within the Ministry. The man who actually cast the killing curse was simply doing as ordered."

"Does that matter? He killed his father." I spoke mechanically. "He will track him down."

"No, that is where you're wrong, Greengrass."

Nott and I spun to see Draco Malfoy standing in the kitchen door. His cape was dirtied with dried mud and bits of leaves clinging to the beautiful black fabric. Platinum hair was hanging loosely in his eyes. In his right hand he carried a wand, in his left he held a broom.

"Still here, eh, Greengrass? Don't you have someone else to bother? Why is it that you don't have any girlfriends, eh?" He shook his head, stepping further into the room. Grey eyes flashed with annoyance before becoming completely vague. "Even if you're sleeping with Nott, that doesn't mean you need to be around all the time." I bristled at the statement, but didn't go after his bait. He only said shit like that when he was itching for a fight.

I wouldn't fall for his trap.

I remained in my seat watching as Malfoy strolled to the fireplace. His hand rested on the mantle as he leaned forward, examining a picture closely.

"Where's your mother, Draco?" Nott asked, glancing at the pale man. I did the same, my arms wrapping around my torso. I wasn't sure why I felt so nauseated all of a sudden.

Malfoy chuckled slightly. "She's with Camilla Zabini drinking tea." I raised my brows at his sardonic voice. "It must have been a striking performance you gave Greengrass, Nott, for her to fall for it so easily."

"I'm quite the actor, Malfoy. You know that." Nott agreed, his eyes darted to me for a second. "Are you mad about that?"

"I'm far from pleased, but I have bigger problems." His shoulders rose and fell when he took a calming breath. "I received a letter this morning. I thought perhaps you should read it." Without any response from Nott, he pulled out a wrinkled piece of parchment from his black vest pocket and with four long strides, dropped the letter into the other man's lap. Nott stared up at him before taking the note in his hands. While Nott read, Malfoy spun, throwing himself recklessly into the closest chair, one of his legs kicked over an arm. "Slightly disturbing, is it not?"

"Draco, this is a threat against your life." Nott said incredulously.

Malfoy shrugged. "So what's new?" Complete apathy.

"Don't be a git! They're after your mother as well."

"And my house elves too, I suspect." He responded dryly. "They can't touch me."

I really couldn't take his arrogance. If I could read the conversation or the expression on Nott's face, I could certainly tell what was happening. A real threat to Malfoy's life. My anger was beginning to boil over. I started to speak without restraint, knowing in the back of my mind that I was once more overstepping my bounds. "'They can't touch you', like they couldn't touch your father?"

A step too far. I had jumped right over that invisible line.

Malfoy's dangerous eyes turned my way. "What was that?" He swung his legs off the chair, flung the coffee table out of the way and rushed forward, pinning me to the chair before I had time to react, his arms on either side of my body. I didn't bother to lean back. His face was mere inches away, a vicious sneer marring his features. I ignored my racing heart.

"You father was nigh untouchable in Azkaban and they got him. How can you be so bloody arrogant?"

"What would you have me do, Greengrass? I'm not going to let them kill me." He spat, he leaned closer. I finally had to move back, my head pressing into the cushions. "I won't let them touch my mother! You have no right to comment on any of this! So why don't you be a good girl and keep your bloody mouth shut, or better still, you can leave!"

I pushed him back furiously and stood, my mouth running away from me. "Arrogance at its bloody best, you are! How dare you, Draco Malfoy?" I glanced to see if I would get any support from Nott at all. He kept his eyes trained on Malfoy. "You know what? I don't bloody care what happens to you! You can get yourself killed! Just don't drag others into your bloody problems if you don't want them to speak their minds! Otherwise, talk to your ruddy house elves, they'll tell you what you bloody want to hear!" I charged for the door, bumping into the askew coffee table with my leg as I did so. I felt the pain shoot down the muscle, but I didn't acknowledge it. I sped for the exit.

"Astoria—" Nott called, but I was already out the front door.

I realized when I stood alone in my flat a split second later that what I had said was completely untrue. Some sick twisted part of me feared for Draco Malfoy's life. At the moment, I couldn't tell which I was more upset about: my actually caring for the Great Prat, the threat imposed to him, or the fact that he seemed to be oblivious to it. It was a strange nervous feeling. Twisting and aching within the pit of my stomach. I could rarely ever see into his true emotions but I continued to have the same sensation whenever I did.

Whatever the feeling was, I knew I was royally screwed.